Don Don bento

Over the past decade, the Ari district in Bangkok has undergone a significant urban transformation. Formerly characterised by independent cafés and small-scale restaurants that contributed to its reputation as a creative and alternative neighbourhood, Ari has increasingly absorbed the pressures of metropolitan expansion. As commercial firms and high-density residential developments migrated outward from the city centre, the district became a destination for office workers and new urban residents. This demographic shift has redefined local consumption patterns, transforming Ari from a café-oriented enclave into a competitive landscape of food establishments catering primarily to a working population.

The project site comprises three adjacent row houses with fragmented spatial relationships and unclear circulation. Two of the units functioned as a wooden workshop, Made Here on Earth, while the third operated as a yoghurt café, Yo. At the rear of the site, a landscaped courtyard connected to a coffee shop, SA-Ti, offered a high-quality semi-public space. However, access to this courtyard from the street was limited to a passage through the yoghurt café, resulting in poor legibility and reduced visibility. Despite the courtyard’s presence on digital mapping platforms, visitors frequently failed to locate it. The commission, therefore, sought to resolve conflicts between programs while establishing a clearer spatial hierarchy and circulation strategy.

The architectural intervention introduced a new program—a Japanese bento bar named Dondon—and reconfigured the row houses to function as a cohesive spatial system. The newly integrated unit operates as both a commercial function and an architectural mediator between the street and the courtyard beyond.

Dondon is conceived as a compact, takeaway-oriented food establishment providing affordable, high-quality meals for office workers, particularly those employed in the public relations department located opposite the site. The program emphasises everyday accessibility and efficiency, aligning with the rhythms of the surrounding working environment.

The primary architectural objective was to redefine the main circulation axis from the street to the courtyard. Renovation works encompassed the Yo café and its adjacent unit, with internal walls removed at the ground-floor level to establish spatial continuity. The first floor was entirely demolished and reconstructed to accommodate revised spatial criteria. Portions of the roof were replaced with polycarbonate skylight panels, allowing daylight to penetrate the previously enclosed corridor and transforming it into a luminous transitional space.

The bento bar was positioned as an open kitchen along the main entrance corridor, activating the circulation route and reinforcing visual transparency. Given the takeaway nature of the program, mechanical air-conditioning was intentionally omitted. Instead, the building envelope was designed to facilitate natural ventilation. The façade protects the interior from heavy rainfall while promoting airflow to dissipate heat generated by the open kitchen and moderate thermal conditions within the corridor.

This façade strategy operates in conjunction with a reconfigured first-floor void. Sections of the upper floor were selectively removed and reintroduced at a reduced scale, generating a double-height entrance space that spatially and visually guides visitors from the street toward the courtyard. Existing street lighting was retained and incorporated into the design, reinforcing the project’s relationship to the public realm and subtly inviting pedestrians into the site.

Through the combined application of a white perforated aluminium façade, polycarbonate skylight roofing, and a restructured upper-floor layout, the entrance corridor is redefined as a semi-public threshold. The intervention enhances spatial legibility while supporting everyday urban activities: providing office workers with efficient access to meals during working hours and offering a calm courtyard environment for social interaction beyond the workday

• Client: Foodlab CO.,Ltd
• Architect: FATTSTUDIO
• Design Director: Wattikon Kosonkit
• Interior Designer: Jindamart Pudsa
• Design Team: Supanna Chanpensri
• : Pomped Sathornterawat
• : Noppanan Sinpru
• : Vipada Simtamnimit
• : Apinat Jongphianmungmart
• Photographer: Panoramic studio by Thinnapop Chawatin
• Lighting product: Truelight, Trueconnection Thailand
• Façade distributor: Anaheim materials CO., Ltd
• Area: 210 Sqm.